She turns coffee into books so she can afford to buy more coffee. And more books.

Bring Your Book To Market: 3 Day Course at Faber Academy, London (featuring ME!)

On Friday 17th-Sunday 19th February 2012, Faber Academy, London, are running a 3-day course called BRING YOUR BOOK TO MARKET, and I’m delighted to say that none other than yours truly will be leading the self-publishing session.

About Bring Your Book to Market:

The digital publishing revolution has transformed self-publishing from a last resort into an ever-expanding world of opportunity that writers at all stages of their career can take advantage of. This hands-on, three-day course is aimed at writers who want to take the first step towards finding their readership through digital self-publishing, and then market their work online. First you’ll learn how to prepare your manuscript for publication, to a professional standard, and decide which of the many options out there is best for you. Successfully self-published author Catherine Ryan Howard will explain – in practical terms – the steps to self-publishing a finished work through print-on-demand and e-book websites. At the end of day one, a Faber editor will also outline golden rules for authors – and the most common pitfalls to avoid. Then, on days two and three, equip yourself with the skills and confidence to build an author platform across the main social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and so on) with the help of social media consultant Ben Johncock. Ben will cover everything from setting up accounts to building your online profile, showing you how to use your author platform effectively to promote and sell yourself and your work. So if you want to build a readership, showcase your work, publish high quality books and – if you’re pursuing traditional publication – build the kind of online platform, fan base and sales record that will convince an editor to say ‘yes!’, this could be the course for you.

About Faber Academy:

Drawing on Faber’s 80 years of publishing experience, Faber Academy offers the best tuition from hand-picked authors, editors and agents, on focussed, practical writing courses. One of the original publishing houses to be founded in London’s famous literary quarter, Bloomsbury, Faber remains family-owned and fiercely independent. Today it is a thoroughly modern business, still based off Bloomsbury Square, still finding, developing and promoting the best new writing. As one of the great publishers, there is no one better placed to understand what a writer needs. We know that what writers want to do is to write. They want support and they want structure, but all to one end: to write more, and write better. That’s why, on a Faber Academy course, you will always be focused on your own work. Because you have your own voice and your own stories, your own aims and experiences.

A self-publisher, an editor who works for Faber & Faber and a social media expert – this course is really everything you need to self-publish professionally and build a readership using social media, and in doing so lay the foundations for a great writing career. Whether you intend to focus solely on releasing your own books or have it as a sideline to traditional publishing, this weekend is going to give you all the knowledge, tools and advice that you’ll need to move forward confidently and successfully.

And if you’re anything like me, i.e. if you think one of the biggest bonuses of being a traditionally published author is that you get to hang around publishing houses every once in a while, you might like to know that the course takes place in Bloomsbury House, London, the offices of Faber & Faber.

And if all that wasn’t enough to convince you, like, hello? It has me!